Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman is making a full-court press with regulators to expedite the purchase of the remaining piece of the Smith Barney brokerage firm from Citigroup, moving up the buyout date as much as two years ahead of schedule, the FOX Business Network has learned.

A former risk officer at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney claims he was fired for blowing the whistle on a variety of infractions by the firm's registered representatives, including the churning of preferred securities by a star broker the firm recruited last year from rival Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Morgan Stanley and Citigroup executives held unsuccessful talks since August in a final push to settle a dispute over the value of their jointly owned brokerage, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Ever been suckered into a new job because the representations made during the recruitment process turned out to be false ? Well, this firm has been ordered to pay $5m after an arbitration panel found that it made fraudulent misrepresentations and committed breach of contract.